Defining Moments
by Tea's
Summary: #5: This day may have arrived sooner than she originally thought, but Yoshino couldn't have said she was all that surprised. A collection of moments that defined Shikamaru and Temari. Drabbles & Oneshots.
1. Defining Moments

**Note:** The chapters are each a standalone piece as opposed to a continuous story - a collection of random ShikaTema moments, of sorts. This is really just my first attempt at a Naruto fic, spawned by my long love for ShikaTema, so I'm drabbling for the purpose of easing myself into writing fics of this pairing. That said, I update when there's something new to add, but the story will always have a "complete" status since everything added here should stand on its own anyway. :)

**Summary:** Somehow, Temari had become a defining presence in his life. (Rating: G)

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**Defining Moments**

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He never had to turn around to know it was her. Not because barely anyone ever visited him here, but because he had become familiar with the fall of her footsteps against the grass as she approached him and carefully placed her fan on the ground.

He never had to open his eyes to know that she had settled down next to him and leaned back on the grass as she so often did. She had a certain way of positioning herself next to him that forced him to feel her presence. He felt it in the way her elbows barely touched his, close enough to sense the heat of her skin but far enough to make him notice the minimal gap between them.

He never greeted her but then she had never greeted him either. If there was to be a conversation between them, it often started somewhere in the middle rather than from a cursory hello.

Sometimes he would already be sleeping when she came, but she never tried to wake him. Other times, he fell asleep while she was there, and when he woke up, she wouldn't be there. But most of the time, he could feel her by his side even before he had fully regained his consciousness. And he would catch her studying the clouds up above as his eyes slowly cracked open. The image sometimes left such a strong imprint in his mind that he found himself imagining she was next to him every time he woke up, even when she wasn't. Moments like those, he thought, were particularly defining. It made him notice with more clarity, the pressing ache in his chest that lingered long after she had gone.

Shikamaru had never asked her why she came by, and she had never offered the information. But somewhere along the way, he had stopped wondering. It didn't really matter why she was there. It only mattered that she was.

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Reviews are greatly appreciated! Thank you. :)

_Written: April 30th, 2006 (325 Words)_


	2. A Moment Stolen

**Summary:** Shikamaru thinks that, for once, it was probably best he did nothing at all. (Rating: G)

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**A Moment Stolen**

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Right from the start, Shikamaru sensed several things at once even as he struggled to clear the cobwebs muddling his brain from the aftermath of a nap. Though his eyes remained closed, he gathered that the sun was probably setting by the red he could see from behind his eyelids. His legs had fallen asleep as well, and he tried to flex his toes to get the blood circulating again.

But what he noticed above all else was the weight that pressed against the crook of his neck and how warm the left side of his body felt. The feeling was just a bit too disconcerting, and for all of his genius, Shikamaru had no idea how he was supposed to react. Nervous, perhaps, though that obviously wouldn't help in the least.

He shifted his butt a little to relieve the numbness but abruptly froze when he felt the weight stir against his shoulder. It was a moment longer before he finally allowed himself to breathe, a slow steady exhale of air escaping through his parted lips.

This was most definitely, entirely, very very troublesome.

Still, there was no other way to proceed but carefully. He sat rooted to the grass as he cracked, first, one eye open to gauge the position he had somehow gotten himself into. And then he found that he couldn't move at all as he openly stared at the bundle of blond leaning against him.

The spikes of her hair tickled his jawline, and Shikamaru was simultaneously struck by how incredibly strange yet normal it was that she had fallen asleep on him. But what threw him completely off-kilter was the way she looked. He realized, then, that he had never had the leisure to really look at her - to really trace his eyes along the soft curves of her face and take in all the little details that made her so distinctly _Temari_.

It was odd, when he thought about it, how her face could be so familiar to him and yet it was like he had never truly seen her at all. It occurred to him that the opportunity to actually look at her like this had never before been granted to him. It made him think of the way she often stared at him, with the kind of intensity that made him focus on her gaze alone - so much so that he couldn't look at anything else.

Now though, as he took in the entire composition of her face, he became overwhelmed by a different kind of discovery. Awake, Temari seemed to constantly be cloaked by a tight, defensive demeanor borne more from habit than anything else. But asleep, she lay almost carelessly against him with her shoulders slacked and the creases of her face smoothed by the relaxed slumber. It made him a little bit embarrassed to be watching her in this kind of intimate manner, and he briefly wondered how long he had before she woke up and found herself leaning on him so freely.

She would _kill _him, he thought.

He knew, without a doubt, that she would pale slightly before she pushed him off in a hurry and perhaps smack him in the head as color rushed back to her cheeks. Or something violent like that. Never mind that she was the one who fell asleep on him.

But until then, he thought there was no reason he should speed along that consequence by waking her up. Besides, this was kind of nice. And with that thought, Shikamaru closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep with a satisfied smirk on his face.

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Still experimenting. I'm not very satisfied with the way this turned out, but geez, how did I manage to write so many words about absolutely nothing happening? Reviews are greatly appreciated, thank you. I'd love to hear what other ShikaTema fans think. :)

_Written: May 3rd, 2006 (606 Words)_


	3. Knickers

**Note:** This one's quite different from the previous snippets in that it consists of pure dialogue, plus the air and style is also not the same. Originally written and posted on LJ for the dialogue500 community, which is to write a conversation revolving around something important having been destroyed/damaged by a character. The idea popped in my head and I just had to write it, though a possible warning for minor crack... or something. :P Also, apparently this site messed with the punctuations a bit and won't allow me to post it the way it was originally written on my journal. :\

**Summary:** Temari was worried about her hair, only to find that her knickers had betrayed her. Future timeline. (Rating: PG-13, for language and naughty implications)

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**Knickers**

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"Wait... stop!"

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"Damn! Quick, get up you lazy!"

"Oye, stop shouting in my ears."

"Didn't you hear the footsteps? Someone's coming! Hurry!"

"How am I supposed to hear anything with you screaming in my ear? I'm about to go deaf as it is."

"Stop complaining and get up already, you lazy bastard!"

"I can't."

"Why the fuck not?"

"You're still on top of me."

"...Wipe that smirk off your face or I'll do it for you."

"What a troubleso-"

"Finish that sentence and I'll give you a whole new meaning of troublesome later. Oh fuck, look at us. Hurry up and get dressed!"

"Where's my vest?"

"How am I supposed to know? Look for it yourself!"

"You're the one who took it off."

"Who the hell- look it's over there! Under the bed."

"Where are my pants?"

"How the hell-"

"You're the one who took that off too."

"Say that again and I'll never take anything off you again."

"..."

"Where's my underwear?"

"You're not wearing your underwear?"

"I wouldn't be asking you if I was wearing it, would I?"

"When did you take it off?"

"Shikamaru! That's not the fucking point right now!"

"Alright, alright. Geez, woman, you need to calm down. Besides, if I were you, I'd worry about that first since I doubt anyone would be checking under your skirt to see if you're wearing any underwear."

"Worry about wha- _shit_! What happened to my hair? My hair tie, where did my hair tie go?"

"You mean this?"

"Oh yes! _Oh no_! It snapped! Dammit, Shikamaru!"

"Stop- ow! What are you hitting me for?"

"It's all your fault! Why did you yank it off? Now what am I going to do?"

"I don't recall you complaining earlier..."

"Just... shut up. Quick, give me yours! It'd be too obvious if my hair looks like this."

"Right. And I wouldn't look strange at all with my hair down."

"Just give it to me!"

"You still have three other rubber bands. Use those and tie your hair into one ponytail or something."

"Are you crazy? I've never tied my hair like that! They'll _know_ if they see me like that."

"Too late."

"Temari."

"Ga-Gaara! Wh-what are you doing here? Did... uh... something come up?"

"...I heard noises."

"Oh..ha..haha... I was... um... looking for a new hair tie. One of them just suddenly snapped, you see..."

"Temari."

"Y-yes?"

"There's something on your lamp."

"Looks like he found your underwe- what are you glaring at me for? I don't even know when you took it off!"

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Two snippets with absolutely zero dialogue and then I go right on to write something with just dialogue. Hopefully the next one will have _both_. Any reviews, comments, concrits all greatly appreciated! I also just want to say a big thank you to everyone who has left me a review...they're really very motivating. :)

_Written: May 5th, 2006 (431 Words)_


	4. Revaluation

**Note:** Been a while since I last added to this collection, though this one isn't new by any means. This was actually written almost 2 years ago but I never got around to sharing it because I didn't think it was worth posting. Reading it again now, I'm reminded of why I stopped writing ShikaTema. I really have a knack for writing boring fics on the two, which is rather depressing considering how much I love this pairing.

**Summary:** Temari realizes some things quite suddenly and unexpectedly. (Rating: G)

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**Revaluation**

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The first time Temari noticed something _not quite right_ was while she was traveling from her village to Konoha for one of their scheduled meetings to plan for the upcoming Chuunin exam. She had been leaping from tree to tree along her usual route when she suddenly realized she was grinning about nothing in particular - definitely not a common occurrence for her by any means. The realization had completely taken her by surprise, causing her footing to falter and slow to a stop. By the time she had come to a rest at a small clearing in the forest, her smile had already transformed itself into a disturbed frown.

She was well within Konoha's boundaries, and it wouldn't be long before she reached the village gate. With a quick calculation in her head, she decided she could walk the rest of the way and still arrive earlier than they were expecting her to. She figured she needed this moment to analyze her own thoughts, not to mention the fact that she was feeling inexplicably apprehensive about going to Konoha and having to face a certain escort of hers. Never mind the reason why she was apparently so eager to go on this journey that she was making such good time to begin with.

It dawned on her - and what a horrible revelation it was - that she had been thinking about how lazy and aggravating that _boy_ could be. Except instead of being annoyed, she had smiled about it. That was just wrong on so many different levels, and it sent her into a momentary panic.

Groaning, she massaged her temples and muttered, "I've been spending way too much time with him, that's what."

The reasoning did nothing to calm her frazzled nerves, and her hands remained clammy even when Konoha's gate came into view some ten minutes later. She supposed clenching and unclenching her hands obsessively wasn't helping matters much.

Temari spotted him right away, leaning against the wall in that nonchalant manner of his, with one hand tucked inside his pocket and eyes directed at the sky. Watching him, she had the sudden urge to scream in frustration. He probably had no idea of the grief he was causing her at that moment. How could she _smile_ about this?

With a huff, she marched towards him, scowling the entire way as he finally noticed her presence and turned his attention towards her. Cocking his head to one side, he commented blandly, "You're early."

Heat shot up her face, and she looked away abruptly in embarrassment at the reminder of exactly why she would be early to begin with. Assuring herself that he couldn't possibly know - he was a genius, not psychic - Temari shot him an annoyed frown and replied hotly, "You should tell the Hokage that she doesn't have to ask you to escort me anymore. I've been here so many times that I should be able to find my way around without your lazy ass complaining incessantly."

He said nothing for a while, only glanced down at her hands curiously. Realizing that she was still clenching and unclenching her hands nervously, Temari scowled again and planted them on her hips in what she hoped was hostile enough to keep him from asking any questions. She watched his eyes trail upwards slowly until they reached hers, and she repressed a shudder as he held her gaze for a brief moment.

Shrugging, he finally broke eye contact and turned to start walking towards the heart of the village. "I'm just following orders," he threw over his shoulder. "You can tell the Hokage yourself when we check in with her."

Reigning in the urge to smack the backside of his head, she was still thinking of a suitable retort when she saw the Hokage's assistant running up towards them. Peering at the woman who was panting from the run, Temari asked, "Shizune-san, is something wrong?"

"Oh, thank god. And you're early too." Smiling in relief, she gestured towards Shikamaru. "Tsunade-sama couldn't find him in time so she asked me to meet you at the gate first, but it looks like he beat me to it anyway."

Temari blinked as the implication of Shizune's words sunk in, and she cast a quick glance at Shikamaru. He looked bored as ever, but his ears, on the other hand, had turned a deep shade of red.

And moments later, as the Hokage looked up from her paperwork in surprise to commend Shikamaru for his foresight and rare diligence while expressing her gladness that someone was able to meet their Suna contact at the gate in time, Temari merely smiled serenely as Shikamaru's ears continued to burn brightly.

Neither said a thing about no longer needing an escort whenever she was in Konoha.

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Reviews are, as always, greatly loved and appreciated. It was my first try at writing from Temari's POV, so I hope I didn't butcher her too horribly. Thanks for reading!

_Written On: May 6th, 2006 (800 Words)_


	5. Nara Men

**Note:** Originally written back in 2010, during my bout of run-on sentences phase. I had left it lying around because I kept wondering if I should expand on it further. Reading it again recently, I realized that there really isn't much I want to add, so I'm leaving it as is. I hope you feel the same. :)

**Summary:** This day may have arrived sooner than she originally thought, but Yoshino couldn't have said she was all that surprised. (Rating: G)

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**Nara Men  
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Yoshino had always believed that it took a particular type of woman to be able to appreciate a Nara man.

And so Yoshino didn't tease him, couldn't really find it in herself to do so, not when her only son looked that serious even with his ears tinted red as it often did when he was embarrassed. Embarrassed, but not uncomfortable, not at all, when he looked her straight in the eye and said, "Mom, I need the family ring."

Her husband coughed, a short burst of air sounding from her left, but the newspaper he was reading didn't lower. Shikamaru didn't react at all.

And that was enough of an answer from either men, wasn't it?

She smiled, really quite satisfied, as she walked down the hall towards the master bedroom, content in the sound of footsteps following her.

No, she couldn't have said she was surprised at all.

Nara men may have always been known for their laziness, and Shikamaru was, if anything, a true Nara through and through.

But Yoshino also knew, as well as all other women who had ever married into the Nara family - just as Temari surely already knew too - that Nara men were hardly ever lazy where it truly counted.

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Reviews are, as always, so very loved and appreciated. I had originally debated on whether to add this here, since it's from Yoshino's POV and not quite a moment between Shikamaru and Temari, but I'm hoping it manages to define the two anyway. :) Thanks for reading!

_Written On: May 12th, 2010 (207 Words)_


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